3G and 4G could be coming to the London Underground

Above ground you can get mobile signal in most parts of the UK, but below ground, notably on the London Underground, it’s a different matter altogether.

Millions of people use London’s tube network every day yet for the duration of their trip they have no 3G or 4G and while free Wi-Fi is accessible in many stations it doesn’t extend to the tubes themselves.

That’s a problem and one which surely needn’t exist, especially as even the Channel Tunnel now has 4G, but it’s a problem which may not exist for much longer, because as part of its long-term economic plan the government has announced that it is in discussions with Transport for London to see how funding can be found to extend Wi-Fi/3G/4G coverage to the whole underground network.

That’s obviously not very specific and provides no guarantees that a solution will be found, but the good news is that it’s listed under the government’s plans for this year, so we may know more soon.

It’s a small part of a big plan to modernise and extend London’s public transport but if it happens it could be a big deal, allowing people to work, communicate and entertain themselves even while taking the tube, which for the most part is currently wasted time from a productivity perspective.

In fact Transport for London has already confirmed plans to extend Wi-Fi to all below ground sections of the tube by the end of the next parliament, so that’s a big step in the right direction, but to truly keep the lines of communication open 3G and 4G would be better.